Red Bull Takes Its Brand To New Heights

Hero. Inspiration. Just two of he words linked to daredevil Felix Baumgartner this week. In every picture or description of Baumgartner and his record-setting dive you’ll see one other name included alongside his – Red Bull, the primary sponsor of the event, dubbed Red Bull Stratos.

Red Bull’s modis operandi over the past few years has been to loan their name to off-the-wall stunts and other extreme sporting events, Travis Pastrana’s New Years Eve jump and the company’s own Flugtag event just to name a few.

By associating themselves with extreme sports and daredevil stunts, Red Bull has shed its label of being simply another beverage or energy drink. Just like Nike with Michael Jordan in the 80s and 90s, Red Bull has created a brand that goes above and beyond any preconceived notions of what a company in their industry should be.

With an unceasing, and meticulously produced and managed stream of high end action sports- and youth culture-oriented content that spans web, social, film, tablet, print, music, and TV, the giver of wings has become what every brand wants to be these days–a media company in full. – Teressa Iezzi, Fast Company

The extreme sports drink brand that Red Bull and its CEO Dietrich Mateschitz have created has taken time, energy and resources – as evidenced by the company’s investment in more than 600 athletes worldwide.

From alternative sports to the more mainstream like the New York Red Bulls of the MLS, the company started building roots in the sporting community more than 20 years ago. With more than two decades of meticulous crafting, Mateschitz best sums up the Red Bull brand as follows:

What Red Bull stands for is that it “gives you wings…,” which means that it provides skills, abilities, power etc. to achieve whatever you want to. It is an invitation as well as a request to be active, performance-oriented, alert, and to take challenges. When you work or study, do your very best. When you do sports, go for your limits. When you have fun or just relax, be aware of it and appreciate it.

If seeing Felix Baumgartner jump more than 24 miles above the Earth’s surface while covered in all things Red Bull doesn’t reinforce the companies [giving] you wings, I don’t know what does.